Neighbors of the Onondaga Nation

Roesch Wagner, a leading women's studies scholar, and Onondaga clan mother Jeanne Shenandoah presented a talk, "Visionary Women: The Haudenosaunee and the U.S. Women's Rights Movement."

The event was the second in a series of lectures designed to help people understand the Onondaga Nation and its land-rights action in a more complete historical and cultural context.

The lecture unfolded as a dialogue between Roesch Wagner and Shenandoah.

Roesch Wagner started by outlining the state of women's rights in the 1900s of Gage and Stanton. Women enjoyed almost no legal rights. They could not vote, own land or sue for damages. It was legal for a man to beat his wife, she said.

"If a woman was not satisfied with this situation, she was considered to be unnatural biologically and morally," she said.

Shenandoah contrasted the state of white women of the era with that of women in traditional Onondaga culture, who enjoyed positions of authority and respect.

"Everyone is considered of equal responsibility," she said.

In traditional Onondaga culture, clan mothers chose male candidates for the position of chief and had the power to revoke his mandate should the need arise.

Shenandoah said many white women erroneously point to Haudenosaunee culture as matriarchal, dominated by women.

"It is more about equality," she said. "It would be unnatural for one person to have domination over another.

"There is no power if there is dominance," she said.

Roesch Wagner, who is white, said most people don't know about the role the Haudenosaunee played in the modern rights women enjoy because of an undercurrent of racism in education. She said she was slow to make the connection between the women's rights crusaders and their native neighbors because of her own preconceptions.

"I wasn't looking for this connection," she said. "It carried me kicking and screaming."

Shenandoah said natives and nonnatives need to work together as equals, just as women and men do in traditional Onondaga culture.

"We need to all carry the load together," she said.